

TERMITES. 201 



' The male and female ants perish at the approach of win- 

 ter, but the neuters survive it, and pass the cold months in a 

 dormant state in the recesses of their habitations. Their 

 forethought and providence, then, in the provision of food, 

 lias not for its object their own support, but that of their 

 young ; and, in preparing for the winter, they have merely to 

 render their habitations tight and secure against the cold.' 



The habitations and operations of the Termites, a species of 

 ,nsects frequently called white ants,* although of a different 

 genus, and even a different order, from the common ants, are 

 well worthy of attention. They infest Guinea, and all the 

 tropical regions, where, for their depredations upon property, 

 they are greatly dreaded by^the inhabitants. 



Of these insects there are several species ; but they all re- 

 semble each other in form, and in their manner of living. 

 They differ, however, as much as birds, in the style of their 

 architecture, and in the selection of the materials of which 

 their nests are composed. Some build on the surface, or 

 partly above and partly below the ground, and others on the 

 trunks or branches of lofty trees. 



Before describing the nests or hills, it is necessary to give 

 some idea of the animals themselves, and of their general 

 economy and manners. We shall confine ourselves to that 

 species called termites bellicosi, or fighters, because they are 

 largest and best known on the coast of Africa. 



The republic of the termites bellicosi, like the other .spe- 

 cies of this genus, consists of three ranks or orders of insects, 

 1. The working insects, which Mr. Smeathman distinguishes 

 by the name of laborers ; 2. The fighters or soldiers, which 

 perform no kind of labor ; and, 3. The winged or perfect 

 insects, which are male and female. These last Mr. Smeath- 

 man calls the nobility or gentry ; because they neither labor 

 nor fight. The nobility alone are capable of being raised to 

 the rank of kings and queens. A few weeks after their 

 elevation to this state, they emigrate, in order to establish 

 new empires. 



In a nest or hill, the laborers, or working insects, are 

 always most numerous. There are at least one hundred 

 laborers to one of the fighting insects or soldiers. When in 



* In the windward parts of Africa, they arc denominated bvyrra, bugs ; in the 

 West Indies wood-lice, wood-ants, or white-ants. They are likewise called piercers, 

 eater.-*, or cutters, because they cut almost every thing in pieces. This account of 

 Hie termites is selected, with some slight alterations, from an excellent description 

 nf them in the Philosophical Transactions, by Mr. Henry Smeathman. Vol. LXXI. 

 Part I, p. 139. 



